By Ian Gustafson

Playoff Berth

Red Deer Vipers look to lock up second place ahead of playoffs

Feb 6, 2025 | 5:26 PM

The Red Deer Vipers already have a playoff spot secured but will look to solidify second place in the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s North Division this weekend.

With two games to go in the regular season, Red Deer is just three points ahead of the Mountainview Colts for second place in the northern division.

To secure second place all they need is to win one of their last two games on Friday and Saturday.

The only way they’d lose out on second is if they lost both games in regulation and the Colts win both of their final two games. This would lead to a tie but the Vipers would hold the tie breaker in their head-to-head matchups.

If the Vipers can hold on to second, they’ll have home-ice advantage in a best-of-five series in the second round of the playoffs but if they have to settle for third place, they’ll have to win on the road for a chance to advance to the north semi-finals.

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Director of hockey operations for the Vipers, Brady Sim, said having home-ice advantage would be massive.

“Not only for the series we’re going to play but for the program itself,” he said. “To be able to say we went from near the basement of the division to second place in one year, I think would be a big boost. It would also be huge for the series because it’s always easier playing at home and I think we play well at home.”

The team also set a benchmark at the beginning of the season to reach 22 wins this season and can do so if they win both of their games. It all starts against the High River Flyers on Friday night on the road followed by a home matchup with the Cochrane Generals on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Servus Arena.

“We’re treating it like it’s the playoffs right now. We said if we got to 22 wins we’d be really happy,” he said.

This will be their first playoff appearance in over a year after finishing near the bottom of the HJHL standings. This year they have a 20-15-1 record.

“It’s a combination of relief and pride to see the work we’ve put in has paid off. It’s been a trying last two years. To have it go well this year with a younger group, it definitely feels good to not only return to the playoffs but do so emphatically,” Sim added.

“I think we’ve got a team that can maybe be a bit of a dark horse and make some noise. Right now we’ve won 11 of our last 14 so we’re hoping we’re hitting our stride at the right time.”

The Sylvan Lake Wranglers have already wrapped up the number one seed in the north. Meanwhile, the Airdrie Techmation Thunder and the Three Hills Thrashers will face off in the first round play-off series.

The Vipers are expecting a tough playoff series against the Colts, leading the season series three games to one.

“We have every reason to believe it’s going to be a battle. I’ve got nothing but respect for that organization and we’re certainly not strangers to the Colts in the playoffs,” Sim said.

“Every second year we seem to run into them, so we know what they’re about. They’re a team that works and have four lines who are hard to play against. We’re going to have our hands full but we’ve had a little success against them this year. We hope that continues in a couple of weeks.”